Portal Under My Skin
by WastefulReverie
Summary: When Danny tries to fix his parents' broken ghost portal, he winds up with much more than a shock. Instead, an entire world is trapped underneath his skin, threatening to crawl through him to escape. Chapter 1 for Going Angst Week 2018, Chapter 2 for PhannieMay 2019.
1. Horror Under My Skin

Originally written for Day Three (Horror) of Diddly's Angst Week back in August.

* * *

He didn't really realize what had actually happened to him until about a week after the accident. At first, he was hesitant to tell his parents anything as well, but that was before... the symptoms. And he ended up admitting everything to them, in a fitful of tears, holding his stomach in, watching Jazz's apprehensive stare out of the corner of his eye.

He had only wanted to _fix_ his parents' ghost portal, not _become_ the portal.

It had started when his parents' 'greatest work', what was supposed to be the Fenton Ghost portal, hadn't turned on. They were devastated, and no matter how many times they examined the schematics, his parents couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.

"We've opened a portal before!" Dad had grown frustrated at the blueprints. "Why won't it work this time?"

Ah, yes, their infamous college project, that had inspired the construction of the new portal. For years they were satisfied with the tiny portal, which had settled inside the metal frame they'd built for it.

"I think it's gutsy that you're trying to redo the same experiment that killed your best-friend," Jazz had said offhandedly.

"Jazz, sweetie," Mom said, her eyes masked behind her goggles, "I know what we told you, but that's... that's not what happened. Vlad was... we didn't exactly follow the correct safety procedures. He got caught in the start-up, and got put into a coma. But that's not the case this time! We've internalized the portal's start-up so that there's no way it can hurt _anybody_. Hell, you'd have to be standing inside of it, for it to hurt you!"

"If you've internalized the start-up, then why isn't it working?" Jazz deadpanned. "Hmm, I don't know, maybe because _ghosts aren't real_, and Vlad died because of eventual radiation poisoning! I don't blame you for his death, but there's no denying it! What you've done to our basement is absolutely _crazy_-"

"It's perfectly safe, Jazz-"

"No, no," Jazz rolled her eyes. "There's no such thing as ghosts. You two are delusional, and when your silly portal doesn't work, you'll see that _I'm_ right!"

His sister had stomped up the stairs, angrily, leaving him and his parents in the lab with a nonoperational portal. His parents didn't acknowledge his presence and talked to each other.

"Jack..." Mom started, pulling her hood off of her head. "She's really upset. And she... she might be right. I don't see any errors in our work, so for now I think we should probably just take a break."

Dad sighed, "For the day, or for a while?"

"For a while," Mom clarified. "We can revisit the portal _after_ the school year starts. That's just a few weeks from now, and once they're both gone in the daytime, we can start over, from scratch."

"I'm tempted to argue with you," Dad said, "because I've put so much work into this portal, but you make good points. Besides, I wouldn't mind a few days to just breathe."

His parents left the lab, far too engrossed within their own resolves to notice him lingering.

Danny understood what they had said; they were going to start over in a few weeks. And quite honestly, it seemed like the best course of action. Except... this wasn't like Jack and Maddie Fenton, they usually _never_ gave up. He heard the undertones in their voices and recognized it for what it was: depressed content. After all, it still felt a little soon for them to give up. There had to be something they overlooked, right?

Sure, Danny wasn't the smartest kid when it came to engineering or anything, but sometimes looking at something with a different pair of eyes did the trick. And, he'd also feel guilty if he knew that he hadn't even tried to help out his folks.

So, with years of lab safety lectures drilled into his head, Danny had the mind to slip on a spare FentonWorks Hazmat suit. He peeled off the sticker of his Dad's face, and threw it in the trashcan. Next, he stood at the portal's entrance, staring at the back of the wall, where his parents had created a garden of wires, crisscrossing and creating some sort of functional diagram to tear a hole in the fabric between dimensions. The wires filled every available surface in the portal, even the metal floor.

Carefully, Danny put one foot inside the portal, avoiding the wires, and placed his other foot in the portal. He still couldn't see much, so he walked down further, hoping that something out of place would catch his eye. And something did.

It was a small panel, but it was different than the other metal surfaces that intertwined with the wires. It had two buttons on it: a green button ("on") and a red button ("off"). Surely, his parents had known to press the on button, right? Hell, his Mom had a doctorate in engineering! So, with an eager mind to make his parents happy, he put his hand on the green button.

And, for a moment, nothing happened. He frowned, disappointed again, and released the wall.

Then, there was a sudden whirring sound around him. He couldn't see anything happening, until he felt it. There was a fire inside of him, ripping his body apart from the inside. It was burning, evaporating his blood and touching every skin cell, and his eyes felt open but he had gone blind. There was nothing anywhere, no sensation, except for the amplification of pain – everywhere. The pain caressed him, and he could feel the fabric of reality his parents had talked about, and for many moments he _was_ the fabric. Things were being cut where things shouldn't be cut and tearing and shredding and a thousand souls looked into one soul (_what did a soul even feel like?_).

And through this abstract experience, Danny understood even more what was happening to his body. His mind was overloaded in a way a human shouldn't be overloaded, but he still could feel the sharpness of electricity rattling his bones and how it felt like he'd experienced a million years in a freezer condensed into one second, burnt by cold and heat. He felt the ordinary dryness of his limbs and mouth and how his tongue was trying to stuff itself down his throat because his vocal cords were locked because of the electricity and – there was nothing in his lungs anymore!

Agony. He'd heard that word used before, and this was it's definition. Poets, philosophers, they didn't know a _damn_ about agony. This was true agony, a million different hurts and pains all at once with no end and he couldn't understand why he was dying right now. What had he done wrong? He'd just wanted to help his parents, not to be torn into shards and molded into a four dimensional shape between two literal dimensions.

The brush of death was just out of reach, he could see it. It was so light, so merciful compared to this. He needed it. He needed the fire in his chest to be put out. He didn't care about his life, he just needed an end to this _pain_.

And death touched him, but it did not embrace. It teased him, and then it left. And he was left, and everything didn't exist in his head anymore. _Unconscious_.

* * *

When Danny awoke, he was still in the portal, and his HAZMAT suit clung tightly to his body. He felt... normal? Maybe a little cold, but pretty much okay. Was that experience before only a vivid dream full of abstract concepts his brain had constructed? Because surely, that level of pain didn't exist, and it wasn't real. Because if it had been real, his body would still be feeling _some_ pain. And all he felt was the discomfort of lumpy wires underneath him, in the same, broken portal.

Still confused, Danny sat up, and staggered out of the portal, far too disoriented to care about stepping on the wires anymore. His throat was dry, and his hair felt wrong, but other than that, he felt more or less the same. Which is what finally convinced him that what he had felt before was just a stupid nightmare.

And since nothing had happened to him, he had to get out of his HAZMAT suit quickly before his parents came down the stairs and started questioning him why he had been inside of the portal. Because, it was clear from his weird nightmare, something bad _could've_ happened inside of the portal. And Mom and Dad knew that, and if they knew he'd been messing around, he'd be in so much trouble!

So, Danny unzipped the white and black suit and relished in the freedom his shirt and jeans gave him. The suit had been so tight on his skin, he was just glad to get out of it. Next, he hung it back up on it's hanger, but something weird happened when he tried. For a moment, everything in the world turned dizzy again and he could feel the remnants of pain from his nightmare (_feel... reality?_) and the HAZMAT suit turned a transparent blue and he could see the wall _through_ the material.

In a panic, he threw the suit on the floor, and watched as it regained opacity. Danny brought his hand up to his neck to relieve some stress, and was bewildered when he couldn't feel himself touching the back of his neck. He brought his hand in front of his face and let out an audible scream when his hand was also blue and see-through.

What was... why was his hand going through everything! What was going on with his body! He honestly had no idea what to do, so he started shaking his hand frantically, trying to get it back to normal. _Please work, I don't know what it is happening! This is wrong, something like this isn't real! Please work! Work!_

Without any bravado or significance, his hand turned back to normal. Just – BAM! It was a normal hand again and there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Was his brain still trying to play tricks on him? Was this a concussion or something?

A concussion! That made sense! Everything was a hallucination.

"Danny?" Jazz's voice wafted down into the lab. "I heard a scream? Is everything okay? Why are you down there?"

"I uh – everything's fine, Jazz!" he lied. "I just..." he gulped, "how do you know if you have a concussion?"

"Have a WHAT?" There were footsteps down the stairs in an instant.

* * *

They took him to the doctor to test if he had a concussion. He'd told his parents that he'd just slipped on the floor and had fallen unconscious for a few minutes. He didn't dare tell them that it was inside of the portal.

And what the doctor had said, unnerved him. They had done a scan of his brain to see if he had any damage, and there was none.

"These things can be difficult to diagnose," the doctor said. "Your insurance will cover the scans, no worries. It's good that you got him checked anyway, after all, it's better to be safe than be sorry."

That night, Danny tried to go to asleep, and no matter how many blankets he buried himself inside, he still felt cold. The sensation hadn't gone away since he had awoken inside of the portal. His sleep was restless, but he kept waking up, tossing and turning, unable to keep an hour of sleep down at a time. He also somehow kept getting out of his blankets, no matter how tightly he tucked them around himself. It was an eerie night, filled with bits and pieces of sleep not long enough to form a coherent nightmare. That freedom of having no dreams was oddly comforting after his last nightmare.

The next morning, he ate breakfast. But no matter how much food he ate, he still felt a hollow feeling inside his stomach. His stomach rumbled unhappily, urging him to binge more, but after his third bowl of Fruity Pebbles, his Mom put a stifle on the cereal.

"Danny, I have to save _some _milk for my recipe later. You've eaten enough this morning."

His body argued otherwise, but he knew that she was right. Three bowls was a lot compared to his usual one. So he stopped eating, and immediately felt worse until he was able to stuff himself again at lunch.

But between breakfast and lunch... even though the doctor had confirmed he didn't have a concussion, he had another hallucinogenic experience. He had floated. Or so, it felt like he was floating. He was up in his room, alone, messaging his friends, Sam and Tucker on his phone. He didn't really much else to do since it was summer, and neither of them could hang out because Sam was grounded for sneaking out and Tucker was away at some programming camp.

Sam had texted a funny meme, and Danny had laughed so hard that before he knew it, his bed was five feet below him and his hair was brushing the ceiling. His eyes widened in shock before he felt himself falling and his knees crashed into his mattress.

He knew that it couldn't be real, but it had felt so _real_.

Throughout the next two days, odd things like that had started happening, and he held his tongue from confiding in his family. He had turned invisible in the bathroom, his eyes had glowed green in the reflection of his phone, objects were falling through his hands left and right, and there were two more isolated instances of levitation. Not to mention the incurable hunger that plagued him, never going away and forming a permanent, empty place in his stomach. There was also the cold that hadn't subsided, and Danny was starting to wonder if he'd ever feel warm again.

And then, there was the final incident that convinced him, that maybe all of this, wasn't just his mind. That maybe, the nightmare he'd had inside of the portal had been real all along.

Talons. They twisted around his internal organs, roughly stabbing him in the lungs and kidneys and so many things he'd never felt individually. He could also hear... not a voice, but some kind of resonance? Something that was outside of his mind, something that was separate to himself, but was trying to come inside of him.

It felt a lot more real than the other experiences he'd had, and he didn't like it.

All of this was happening while he was sitting on the couch, watching TV with his family, and he had a bad feeling something weird was going to happen, so he made an excuse to leave for the bathroom, and ran.

At this point he wasn't oblivious as had been. The things that had been happening to him were not in his head, and he had screwed up, and messed himself up in the portal. The pain that he'd felt that day was real, and there was a ghost dimension, because for a moment, he'd been stuck between it. And now, there was something that was trying to get in his head, or something, and didn't know what to do. He wanted to fight it, but he didn't know how because he didn't know what was happening, and he was still just, so, so confused.

Once he was alone in the bathroom, things got weirder. His eyes started glowing green, again, and the empty feeling in his stomach was expanding throughout his entire body. Everything felt numb and colder and he didn't like this, this was _bad_. He clung to his hair, and he could feel that even his nervous sweat was freezing, and the talons in his organs and brain were _not_ helping his anxiety!

There was dizziness now, and the room was tilting. (_He wasn't floating, right?_) And then something snapped, and the emptiness that was in his stomach before turned into another feeling... something indescribable. Something powerful, scary, but it was also _him_ at the same time, which didn't make sense because Danny wasn't powerful or scary.

He turned to the mirror and there was a sharp jet of light that came out of his body, illuminating the bathroom in colors that weren't supposed to be there and then he changed colors, but also changed inside. He watched his reflection, the light flowed over him and took away his clothes, replacing them with a black suit HAZMAT suit that he'd never worn in his life! He gave an involuntary gasp as his hair turned white and his eyes opened up to become glassy pools of green light. His sclera had completely vanished, yet somehow he was seeing with these frighteningly alien, green eyes.

This wasn't natural. This didn't feel good, this was wrong, and what the hell was he?! He didn't want to be doing this, he wanted this to be not real! But he couldn't stop any of this because he didn't know how, and this was going way too fast for him and–

He didn't have any time to question the million things he was questioning about himself and the grim talons scratched him, and he understood what they wanted. They wanted to come through him. They called him a 'gate'.

Below his heart, the previously empty spot ripped open (unzipped?) and the talons were physically inside of him, and it felt so much worse. The talons belonged to some kind of bird, and there was a bird inside of him and this isn't good, get out get o_ut get out geT OUT GET OUT_

The bird was squished inside of his body, which he had realized wasn't a human body anymore, because the familiar presence of organs was missing. (_Holy shit do I not have organs anymore how am I alive what is-_) Then, the bird starting squirming, looking for a way out of him and something else shifted in him and the bird started coming up. By some sort of reflex, his body acted on its own, and his jaw opened up to a wide proportion that wasn't supposed to be physically possible.

And then, there was something familiar. Something that every human knows how to do, and utterly hates. He started vomiting.

The talons scratched his throat as the muscles in his body pushed the bird up in an unpleasant, erratic pattern. He couldn't even breathe while this was happening, and there was nothing he could do to even stop it! Danny wanted to start crying, because he didn't know why any of this was happening and he hadn't done anything. Was throwing up a living bird with some sort of alienated body the price of being torn between realities? Was this this price of disobeying his parents' safety procedures?

Finally, the bird was in his mouth and he could _taste_ it: fowl, slimy, and a weird combination of battery acid and rotten meat. It was still gagging him, but it was almost out, and he could see it in the mirror and this horror was almost done.

Realizing that it had escaped Danny's body, the bird started moving again and had uncondensed itself, stretching out to full size. Now that he could see it, the bird was a dark green, had red eyes, and had flown out of his mouth, but hadn't used its wings. Danny stared at it, terrified, and it squawked at him. They weren't connected anymore, so he couldn't hear the pull of it's demands in his head, as he had been able to hear earlier. Finally, the bird flew up _through_ the ceiling and vanished.

Seconds later, Danny's world came falling down as the light that had changed him returned, bringing him back to plain old Danny Fenton. Normal clothes, normal hair, normal eyes... And he could feel the normal demanding gargle of his stomach and faint pulse again.

He fell to the bathroom floor in shock, defensively pulling his knees to his chest.

It was hard to believe... that he wasn't human. Because after that experience, it was obvious that he wasn't. Humans don't have ghost birds (was that _actually _a ghost?) appear in their stomach, go all glowy, and then vomit up the ghost!

Danny, in a way, was started to piece together what had happened to him. He'd been able to see it for a moment when the bird passed through him. The bird had called him a 'gate'.

Danny, had been inside the Fenton Portal when it had turned on. But... the portal formed _inside_ of him instead of in the metal structure it was supposed to. Danny had accidentally turned himself into a living, breathing, portal. And from what he had looked like earlier, he was also starting to wonder if he was a ghost, too.

This was all too much for him. He couldn't _live _like this! He couldn't just... live his life falling through things every few minutes, floating, turning invisible – who knows what else! – and also acting as some sort of humanoid gateway for ghosts to violate whenever they wanted! He couldn't hide this, he couldn't even fully understand this the more he thought about it. He didn't even _know _what he was! He felt like Danny, but... at the same time, he could feel the presence of something unnatural in his veins. The thing that was a door inside of his stomach, that caused him to turn into that freaky thing!

He _was_ a freaky thing. That freaky thing was entirely him.

The more he tried to deny it, the worse he felt. A few minutes later, Danny was sobbing before he knew what he was doing.

His family was still downstairs, none the wiser to the kind of monster he'd become. He couldn't hide this from them. He wouldn't be able to if he tried – because when the bird passed through him, he felt it's soul for a moment. He felt how happy the bird was to find him, and that _others_ would find him too. It wouldn't be long before other ghosts came for him, there was no preventing it. So that meant, that his parents were going to find out about him eventually, and it'd be a whole lot better for him to tell them rather for them to see it first.

Shakily, he brought himself to stand again, and slowly turned the bathroom's doorknob. Every step down the stairs felt like a burden, but he knew that he had to tell the truth. There was no stopping this confrontation.

"Mom, Dad?" they were still in front of the TV, captivated by whatever show was on. Jazz sat in the corner, lost inside of a textbook.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Mom said absently, eyes still focused on the screen. She didn't notice the look of fear plastered on her son's face, his tear-stained resolve, and the way his hands were shaking.

"I – I," he whispered. "I screwed up. I _really_ screwed up. I didn't... I didn't know that-" he choked, "this would happen."

Both of his parents looked up, and Jazz questioningly abandoned her book to pay attention to her brother. Dad hit pause on the TV.

"What're you talking about, Danny-boy?"

"I... I don't know how to tell you," Danny admitted. "But it's _bad_. I don't know what I am anymore."

Even that simple confession felt way too personal and invasive. How could he tell them everything else that he had learned?

"What do you mean?" Mom was getting more concerned.

"I'm sure he's talking about psychologically how he feels-"

"Shut _up_, Jazz!" he snapped. "That's not... that's not it, I... it's something I have to explain. And it's really hard."

"Do you want to sit down and talk about it?" Mom asked.

Danny didn't say anything, but took a seat next to his Mom, directly across from Jazz's chair.

"The other day, when I told you I fell," he started. "I didn't. I went into the portal-"

"You what?" Dad whispered

"-and I accidentally turned it on," he blurted the last part far too quickly.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jazz interrupted. "You're trying to convince me you turned that fake thing on?"

"Wow!" Dad's demeanor changed. "You turned the portal on? That's great! Why didn't you say anything? Why isn't the portal working now?"

Danny was taken aback by his Dad's outburst and bit his tongue. His blood had a weird taste (a little like the bird), and he tried not to think about it.

The next three words came easier than expected, since he forced himself to say them without thinking. But they still sounded bad. "I was electrocuted."

Silence. No one dared a word.

"A – are you okay?" Mom ventured, daringly. "You look fine, though. Electrocution isn't something to _joke_ about."

"I wish I was joking," Danny looked down at his feet. "At first I thought that it was only a nightmare, that's why I lied to you. But... things have been happening and I know it's real."

"Danny, people don't just _walk_ _off_ being electrocuted. You're just confused," she reassured.

"Jazz, will you just _stay_ out of this?" he protested. "You don't... don't _know_ anything."

She rolled her eyes, and he knew that she still thought he was a liar.

"Is it... possible," Danny continued, bracing himself for the hardest confession, "for a portal to bind to a person, instead of the doorway that you built?"

"What?"

"I think the portal opened up inside of me," Danny continued, "and I think it's still there. Since I was inside where the portal was supposed to open, it opened up in me, and it's stuck in me."

"Danny... things don't work like that," Dad tried. "If they did, then-"

"Things have been _happening_ to me ever since the electrocution. And not normal side effects, trust me. I've been going intangible, invisible, floating... and just now, I..." this was the peak of his embarrassment, "a ghost used the portal inside of me to come from the Ghost Zone to our world."

He looked at the wild stares every member of his family was giving him.

"You have to believe me!" both of his parents gasped, and Jazz recoiled away from him in her chair. They looked... afraid?

"Danny... _your eyes_," Mom's eyes were saucers.

He immediately squeezed his eyes shut. He'd forgotten that they could turn green on demand now.

"I think I might believe you," Dad admitted.

Danny opened his eyes. "Really?"

"I don't really understand how it _could_ work, but green eyes aren't..."

"Normal?" Danny finished, shame washing over him as he finished his Dad's sentence.

Dad nodded.

"If this is all true, then how are we going to fix this? The only time the proto-portal stopped working was after..."

"After what?" Danny asked, scared by her ominous tone.

"After Vlad died," she said, grimly.

Everyone shared a few glances, clearly afraid of the thing that now resided inside of Danny and what it meant for them.

"We'll figure this out," Dad declared. His voice was devoid of it's usual optimism.

By the look in his parent's eyes, Danny knew then that they wouldn't be able to fix his problem. At best, they'd only be able to figure out how to control it. It saddened him that this was permanent, and he didn't have the mental resolve to think of the implications this was going to have on the rest of his life. But, at the moment, any control was better than none.

Especially if he was going to have to get used to throwing up ghosts.


	2. The Doorway Inside

**Written for Day One of Phanniemay 2019, Doorways.**

No matter how hard Danny tried to ignore it, the ominous cold spot in his stomach wouldn't recede. Mom and Dad were baffled, Jazz was still in disbelief, and he just wanted to flee into his bedroom and never have to deal with something popping its ugly face into his guts and forcing him to puke it up again. At first the doorway into the Ghost Zone (as his parents insisted it was called) was supposed to occupy the metal frame they'd created, but after an accident during the start-up, the portal was inside Danny now.

He'd told his parents hoping they could fix him, but they didn't even know what they were doing. Danny couldn't blame them though, who would know how to get rid of a portal to another dimension that's bonded inside of your teenage son, causing him to spontaneously fall through walls, float, and transform into an alien-like form to eject ghosts from his guts? If they could ever fully fix this, it would be a miracle, but right now that outcome wasn't looking so hot….

"You're doing great, sweetie," his mom reassured him. She edged around the metal table in the lab, fiddling with some equipment behind him. There was a light shining in his eyes, but he could make out Dad's general shape somewhere on his left. "We just have… four more to go!"

"Four? We've only done two and it's been an hour," Danny complained. He tried to push himself off the table for a moment, but Dad's firm grip kept him laying on his back.

"Just relax Danno…" he lifted his hand from Danny's chest. "These next few scans aren't as extensive as the first two. Time'll fly before you know it!"

"Or I will," Danny complained, referring to his new uncontrollable powers. "That power-relaxant stuff has like what? Thirty minutes left before it wears off?"

In the two days his parents had known about his condition, his mom had managed to develop a dose of medication that temporarily prevented his powers from turning on without his consent - it only lasted about two hours max though, so he couldn't exactly rely on it. According to his mom, if they couldn't figure out how to remove the portal (which was likely, but she didn't say that outright) he'd have to learn how to control his new powers and how to postpone vomiting.

"We have more doses," Mom shrugged. "But I get what you mean."

"Yeah," Danny muttered. Lately the only thing that had been keeping him calm was the power-relaxant. When he knew that he was on it, he knew that nothing unexpected would happen, that he could at least pretend that the thing churning inside him wasn't active. That the vile volcano within was dormant as an old, sagging mountain. Because as long as that element of unpredictability was quelled, Danny felt like he had control. He didn't feel like half of the inhuman being that he really was.

Through all of this, he was afraid of how his parents saw him now. In the past two days they'd been scared but reassuring, helpful but analytical. He was just worried that one day they'd look at him and see a hopeless scientific anomaly more than their son. But for now, they were doing their best to support him through all this messy stuff and that's what mattered.

"Mads, you might want to look at this," his dad said, presumably gesturing to one of the many computer monitors they'd pushed into the center of the lab. He lowered his voice, but Danny could still hear him... would a normal person be able to hear this well? "See that concentration of energy right there, wrapping around his stomach? I think that's it, the portal."

"But that's… even if we could physically remove the energy with surgery, it's packed so compactly in his organs that there's no way we'd be able to perform an operation with just the two of us…. Even the most qualified surgeons would be putting him at risk…."

Great, just what he expected. This is permanent. They really can't fix me.

"Yeah," Dad resumed, "even if we could safely remove it, it's almost like it's… bonded to him. You can see here and here," the screen clicked as he tapped it, "that the energy kind of spiderwebs throughout the rest of his body - almost similar to veins."

His Mom nodded, "The repercussions are dicey at this point, the shock of removing energy's may leave him completely unstable."

"So it's less dangerous to just let me live like this?" Danny asked.

Both of his parents flinched. From what he could see of their expressions through the haze of the light, they hadn't thought he'd be able to hear him.

"Danny… we," his mom started. "We're still going to keep trying. If it's possible we will find a way to reverse this."

"But it isn't," Danny said, tone apathetic. He was almost surprised at how easily he was saying this. It's not like he wanted to be like this, he could just tell… that there was no way he was going to be normal after this. "It's not possible, is it?"

"Danno," his dad paused, correcting himself, "Danny. We're not thinking of it like that. We're Fentons - we're going to try all we can until it's proven our efforts are futile!"

His Mom nodded silently, evident doubt still etched across her face.

"I… appreciate the thought," Danny shut his eyes for a moment, needing the reprieve from the bright light and their broken faces. They were really upset over this, they were torn that this condition wasn't one that a little confidence could solve. They… probably feel like they failed him. Just like how he felt like he failed them. "But…" he opened his eyes, "I don't blame you guys if it doesn't work out, okay?"

Behind Mom's red goggles, he didn't doubt that there were tears. "That's… that's - thank you, Danny," she conceded.

His dad didn't say anything more, clearly at a loss for words. The was a heavy sort of tension in the lab now, one that might've been present before, but he had expedited it when he'd questioned the permanence of his condition. With nothing left to say, his parents returned to examining the ongoing scans, muttering notes to each other underneath their breaths. Once there was a lull in their observations, Danny figured it was a good time as ever to bring up something else that'd been bothering him. It's not like he had anything better to do, right?

"So what are we going to do about school?" he questioned, out of the blue.

Mom turned from one of the computers. "School?" she furrowed her brow. "What about it?"

Stretching his feet against the table a little, Danny flustered. "Like… what if I randomly need to just leave class for - uh - reasons and stuff? Wouldn't that like totally wreck my attendance. And what would I do if someone found out?"

"Assuming we don't have a solution by then," Dad suggested, "we can come up with an excuse for the teachers. Forge a doctor's note, call it a medical condition."

Mom scowled, and promptly elbowed Dad. "Forge a note? Fake a medical condition? That doesn't seem like the best way to approach our problems."

"It wouldn't be completely faking - technically he does have a condition!" Dad protested. A moment passed and once he realized what he'd said, he deflated a bit, "... sorry, son."

"It's cool," Danny reminded him, promptly sighing. "It's the truth."

Mom frowned, "I suppose you're right, but how would we go about doing that? Call a meeting with Principal Ishiyama and explain that Danny has 'Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome'?"

"Sure, that'd work!" Dad agreed.

"That's… easier than I was expecting, I guess," Danny admitted. "But I am a little worried about Sam and Tucker. No one else will question it, but I feel like it's going to be hard to hide this from them."

Mom sighed, "We can worry about that when the time comes, Danny. We don't even know if this is permanent yet. Dwelling on hypothetical scenarios never helps anyone find closure."

"... alright."

The conversation fell to silence. After about five more minutes of work, Dad announced that they only had two more tests to go. Danny almost wished his dad hadn't told him how many more tests were left because it made the entire experience feel longer than it really was. He just wanted to go upstairs and lounge in front of the TV and forget about all of this insanity for a few hours.

Of course, luck wasn't on his side.

By the time Mom readjusted the scanner and set it up for the fifth test, Danny felt the light graze of something intangible reaching out to him. Something was wanting to come through again, to penetrate him, to walk through his open doorway. And he'd be rendered useless, fool to its mercy, and have to deal with the unpleasant torture of pushing it up through his throat, its acid seeping into his insides. For all it was worth, Mom's relaxant wasn't strong enough to prevent an outsider from coming in, unfortunately.

He'd only done it once since the first time in the bathroom. This was only the third time something was trying to come through, and he wasn't relatively prepared. Last time… he'd at least been alone in his room. It had been late at night and he'd pressed himself against the wall, shuddering as his body morphed, convincing himself that the suffocation the ghost brought was only a nightmare. He'd vomited up a ghost cat and felt it decompress itself in his mouth, flying somewhere out into the human world. It was gone and he decided to neglect mentioning the experience to his family.

He still hadn't even fully explained to his parents about what happened when the portal opened… hadn't told them about his other form. Hadn't told them about how much it actually hurt. And he wasn't intending for them to find out the hard way right now.

Instead of the bird's talons or the cat's claws, a new sensation gripped his gut. Little pinpricks of something sucking and retracting his organs, slithering their way through the portal's entrance on the other side. They were slippery and thin and altogether chilling. And they weren't stopping. He couldn't stop them.

He had to get out. Mom and Dad couldn't see him puke. They wouldn't want to see it.

With some might, he managed to pull himself off of the lab table in one fluid motion. Mom was still trying to set up the next scanner and Dad was at a computer a few feet away.

"Danny?" Mom asked. "Wh - what are you doing?"

"Everything alright, son...?" Dad lowered his goggles, concern drawn on his face.

Danny couldn't. He just… couldn't deal with them. They'd be better in the dark.

"St - stay 'way," he sputtered, doing his best to force his feet up the stairs. But the stairs were several feet away. "I need away."

Mom gulped, "Is it happening? A ghost?"

"No," Danny lied. He reached the bottom step. "I'm fine."

Now his eyes felt colder. Why were his eyes colder? Oh, right… the green. His eyes turned green when he got emotional… and when he was about to transform. Shit.

He could hear his parents start to move across the lab by the time he climbed to the top of the stairs. Before they could catch up to him, he stepped into the kitchen and locked the lab door behind him. The lock had been broken in the past and he didn't doubt they could break it again, but at least it would buy some time.

Unable to stand upright for much longer (the ghost was squeezing his organs - oh my god - what the hell - stop - no no no), Danny staggered into the living room and fell to his knees, finding momentary comfort in the carpet's softness. There was a high pitch squeal somewhere and he disregarded it. His world was tilting around him like a theme park ride, head swarming with black spots in his peripheral vision - and that incessant sucking-

The thin band inside of him, the line between his human and ghost sides, snapped; he felt an influx of ghostly energy flood through his body. A simultaneous rush of unimaginable power and self repulsion. A flash of light encircled him, freezing his blood and liquifying his organs. Shiny white hair graced the corner of his eye. It was still as foreign as the first time he'd felt it and almost as scary, but at least now he knew what to expect.

He moaned in desperation for this entire thing to just end, but he knew what had to happen. He prepared mentally for the internal invasion and let it happen, feeling the slimy, sucking creature (an ectopus?) break through the doorway and writhing within the empty spot where the portal settled in his body. Finally it physically pushed itself past the limits of the portal and squirmed and twisted-! His lack of organs in this form didn't spare him from the disgusting feeling of it's tentacles. As it ascended to his throat, the ectopus unleashed its suckers onto the walls of Danny's body, causing him to nearly scream in pain from the unsettling sensation.

Get the fuck out of me please please just do it quickly-!

The ghost squished itself into his throat and Danny almost cried when he began to choke. It occupied his entire throat, and Danny thought that if it stretched just a little more, that his entire throat would be torn apart from the inside. And now he couldn't breathe - just go up.

The muscles in his throat finally started to cooperate and he started gagging up the ghost, throbbing and pushing the ectopus further towards his mouth. He still was suffocating and it was so close and he just wanted it to get oUT.

The living room continued to spin and spin as Danny's throat finally found a rhythm consistent enough to push the ectopus up. He could taste the acid and slime drip down back into his throat as the ectopus uncondensed itself and released its suckers into Danny's mouth. Startled by the sudden pain of tiny suckers pulling against the inside of his mouth and tongue, Danny tried to scream (finding it difficult by how torn up his throat felt). Beyond squeamish, Danny forced his gloved hands into his mouth and attempted to pry the ectopus out of his mouth. Through his gloves, he could still feel the slime that seeped from the ghost and did his best to wrangle the creature so that it wasn't touching him anymore.

The ectopus got the message and hissed at Danny, fully expanding into a four-foot-tall form. It's skin was practically a liquid, milky tones of green and yellow slime blended together. Baring its fangs one last time, it phased through the living room wall and disappeared. Danny was so relieved he let himself fall flat on the floor. It was finally over.

It took him a few seconds to reorient his breathing, compensating for his loss of breath. Inhale, exhale... inhale, exhale….

But once he got his breathing under control, he realized that he could still hear the telltale signs hyperventilation. Heart pounding loudly in his head, he put two and two together and realized his mistake….

Jazz was sitting in the corner of the living room, her textbook abandoned on the floor. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was pressing a hand against her chest, trying to slow down her own breath. He made eye contact with her and flinched. She'd seen the whole thing. She'd seen how much of a monster he was.

Since he'd told his family about what had happened… Jazz had been skeptical. Sure, she'd seen him slip through furniture and accidentally float a few feet off the ground - but she was still in denial that things like this (things like me) exist. She'd walked in on a few of her parents tests with him and disregarded the severity of the issue, clinging to her obliviousness.

But now she was seeing him for as he was: an inhuman freak. She couldn't keep denying the situation after this.

"Jazz…" he uttered weakly. "I-"

He was still in his other form. The one with pure green eyes; gravity defying white hair; jagged fangs that nearly pierced his lip every time he spoke; and a dull, black jumpsuit that clung to his skin like rubber. He tried to imagine the feeling of returning to normal, but it was away from him - the warm presence of his human side was out of reach. And he was a monster, left cowering under Jazz's horrified stare.

"Wha - what are-"

Could she not even recognize him? Of course, she'd probably seen him change, but he wouldn't blame her - he hadn't recognized himself the first time. And he still didn't.

There was a pounding in the distance. At first he thought that it was his heartbeat drumming in his head - he felt enough fear that it wasn't out of the question - but he didn't have a heartbeat when he was like this. The pounding, the locked door. Mom and Dad were trying to break out of the lab. Because he'd ran away and trapped them.

"-how are you... Danny…?" Jazz whispered. The pounding on the door had distracted him, but Jazz was still focused on the glowing creature that had replaced her brother. Danny tried again to try to bring back his human self, but it was no use. He was so scared that his subconscious wouldn't let go of this form.

"I don't - don't-" he stuttered, "-crap."

She showed no indication of ease, still terrified of him. "Are you Danny?"

He nodded numbly, "Ye - yeah."

Neither of them moved. The pounding against the lab door lulled, and for a moment Danny felt as if there was still a ghost trapped in his throat. And then there was what sounded like the firing of a gun, and the metal door slammed against the wall. They had finally broke open the lab door.

"-got it, Mads!" his dad called.

I have to change back right now, oh my God - they're gonna see-

Something possessed him to turn towards the kitchen's entrance, a big mistake. He turned just in time to see his parents frantically barrel into the living room, Dad armed with an ectogun and Mom scrutinizing the room. Their eyes locked on him in an instant, changing worry into malice.

"Ghost," Dad hissed, steering the weapon on him. "Where's Danny?"

They didn't even recognize him, holy shit - what's he supposed to say? What answer doesn't get him shot?

Mom didn't move a muscle, looking between her husband, the ghost, and her daughter in the corner of the room. Dad's expression was cold and merciless, driven by concern for his son. Danny was paralyzed, captivated by the barrel of the ectogun in his face. He couldn't explain… was too afraid to speak. Couldn't let his parents know that he was here underneath this ghastly guise.

"Answer, ghost!"

Danny flinched. He still couldn't do… couldn't admit-

"Dad," Jazz spoke softly. Danny gulped. She was going to tell them, wasn't she?

His mom found Jazz's eyes while Dad kept his attention trained on the ghost in front of him.

"What is it Jazz?" Dad asked, vulnerability leaked into his voice. "Did it hurt you?"

It, Danny realized. He called me it. And I am an it. I'm not even enough to be called human, I'm so beyond repair.

"No, that's not it," she assured. "That is Danny. He turned into… looking like that? I don't know. I really, really don't know."

Both his parents placated. Dad dropped the gun to his side, examining what Jazz claimed to be his son. Danny held his breath (even though he didn't need to, no lungs and all), waiting for some sort of judgement. For his parents to declare that he's a freak of nature, that they're going to give up on him because his condition is undoubtedly irreversible, that he should just pack his things and leave home forever… or just kill himself.

Mom was the first to break the tension. She pulled back her hood and took off her goggles, sighing profusely. "Oh, Danny. This is more than we thought, isn't it?" She slowly approached where he was curled up on the floor, keeping her stance loose to show that she didn't intend any harm. She sat cross-legged beside her son and hesitantly wrapped an arm around him, shivering from the unnatural coldness of his skin.

He was stunned by her genuine gesture of affection. "Mom, I-" he tried to explain, but she cut him off.

"Sshhh," she soothed. "It's alright. You don't have to say anything. You were afraid of telling us about this?"

"I look like a ghost," Danny cried, tears starting to well in the corners of his eyes. "I didn't want to… admit it. You guys already knew about the portal and stuff… but this felt like too much. I didn't - didn't..."

"I get it, Danno," Dad spoke up, easily setting the ectogun on the mantle and walking away. He joined Danny and his mom on the floor while Jazz sat awkwardly in the corner, watching her family's interaction. "I'd keep it a secret too. But it isn't that much more than knowing about the portal. You just gave us a scare, you see? We thought that you were a regular ghost that'd uh - come through the portal. Thought you'd done something with Danny, but I guess this is just a side effect of whenever something comes through, huh?"

They'd gotten it exactly, nailed it straight on the head. Dad's words were the broke the levee of the dam and Danny just started bawling. They were… were being so accepting. And for what, their son that had disobeyed them and turned himself into this thing?

"You guys… you guys are so good. You're just… adapting to this? Changing everything you felt about the paranormal for me? I don't deserve…" his Mom wiped his tears away. When they stained her gloves, he almost recoiled because his tears were glowing vibrant green… just like everything else.

"You do, Danny," Jazz finally moved from her chair. She'd been the one to see him vomit up that ghost, but now even she was being nice to him. "You do deserve it. You're going through a lot, and we'll be your support system. And… and that looked really awful. I can't imagine how it felt for you." She joined the rest of them, sitting down and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry I was acting so weird the past two days."

Tears refusing to cease, Danny almost snorted. "Trust me," he quipped, "it's not just you that's been weird. I think that's just where we all are."

For the first time in over a week, Danny felt safe with his family. They had disregarded their opinions and were fully okay with this, working to help him get rid of his problem at best and control it at worst. He was… at peace.

That sliver of warmth somewhere near his stomach flared, and Danny could feel his human self returning. That telltale light encircled him, returning his sense tangibility and faint gurgle of his organs. That thin black jumpsuit was exchanged for his regular white t-shirt and jeans; his alien white hair darkened until it was back to black. His family was more or less surprised at his spontaneous transformation, but none of them commented on it. There was more awkward silence, but this one wasn't exactly uncomfortable.

"Does… anyone want to have that leftover Chinese food for lunch?" Dad finally asked.

"Sure," Jazz agreed. "I could use something to eat." She stood up and offered her hand to Dad who often had difficulty standing up considering his size.

"Food sounds nice," Mom added.

"I'm like… really hungry," Danny admitted. By now he had stopped crying, but he was still flushed and had faint glowing tears streaked across his face.

"Well, I expect that transformation takes a lot of energy, no wonder you've practically developed a super metabolism!" Dad joked.

Danny gave a weak laugh in response, his dad really had no clue what the words 'too soon' meant. "I guess."

Jack ruffled Danny's hair, "Beat you to the kitchen then? First one there gets an extra egg roll!"

Danny snorted, "You're on." And with that he pulled himself off the floor, quickly racing to move past his dad.

As they two boys clamored to earn their extra food, Jazz and Mom watched both of them try to fit into the kitchen doorway. Before Maddie could keep up with her husband, Jazz placed a hand on her Mom's shoulder, "Danny's going to be alright, right?"

Mom pondered for a moment. "You saw him just now, you tell me. Just minutes ago he was scared out of his skin, crying, and now he's fighting over egg rolls. That boy's resilient. I think he'll be just fine. As long as he has us around, that is."

Jazz nodded, "That's true… I hope you're right."

Mother and daughter followed each other through the doorway respectively, joining the rest of their family on the other side, where everything would be alright.


End file.
